


The Weight

by nekojita



Series: Dragon!Andrew [9]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Dragon!Andrew, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Mention of Past Abuse, andrew and neil have to take care of a little detail at some point, mention of poor adulting, poor wymack, riko continues to be annoying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-03 07:01:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14563569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekojita/pseuds/nekojita
Summary: Andrew and Neil are trying to find some peace and quiet (and be left alone) at the Foxhole Court, but others seem to have different ideas on what the future should hold in store for them - especially Prince Riko, who still feels that Neil/Nathaniel is owed to him due to a promise that Neil's demon father made years ago.This time, Riko decides not to come after Neil directly.Continuation of the dragon!Andrew series.





	The Weight

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've had an ask or two or three about this series, and there's the wonderful artwork by [godot](http://still-waiting-for-godot.tumblr.com/post/166802677264/so-for-dragonandrew-au-nekojitachan-talked-about) which serves as the inspiration for this fic (all of her artwork is amazing). And there you have it, this week's prompt fic and some much delayed dragon!Andrew.
> 
> Some mention/reference to Andrew's and Neil's childhoods, which weren't happy, but nothing graphic.  
> *******

Neil had never been very religious - being mostly demon made him shy away from anything to do with gods since the two didn't mix very well. It wasn't as if he'd had any choice in his bloodline (as messed up as it was), and the little bit of humanity in him was rather dubious to say the least (‘liars’ and ‘scoundrels’ were the _nice_ way to talk about his ancestors). That didn't attract the favor of any gods worth celebrating, outside of those of thievery, misfortune and death, it seemed (and he did fine on those fronts by himself - again, he was mostly demon and Mary Hatford's only child).

It was just... sometimes he wondered if praying would do him any good. Oh, he was certain his life would still be one hell of a mess, but maybe it would ease the frustration a little?

Probably not.

Still, Renee appeared rather serene as she surveyed the scorched tapestries in the hallway while Abby did her best to soothe a disgruntled Wymack and Andrew stared down a scowling Jean, with Kevin foolish enough to stand between the two fire mages. "What set you two empty-headed maggots off _this_ time?" Wymack demanded to know as his hands clenched into fists, which made Neil scoot a little more behind his... his husband.

He was still getting used to that.

"He tried to talk to Neil," Andrew said in that expressionless manner of his when he felt he was dealing with morons while flames danced around his right hand.

"All I did was say 'good day' to Prince Nathaniel," Jean muttered while frowning at the burned spots on his black tunic. "You are a controlling, rude-"

"He's not 'Prince Nathaniel'," Andrew declared before Neil could, while Wymack slashed his hand through the air in an attempt to prevent yet another fight.

" _Enough_ , the both of you. I'm tired of you destroying the place each time you cross paths." The Palmetto lord gave Jean a cold look. "You ready to head back to Evermore yet?" The knight paled at the suggestion and shook his head. "Then behave and leave _Neil_ alone." Next Wymack glared at Andrew. " _You_ leave Jean alone, got it? He's a guest here which means he's off-limits."

"So's Neil," Andrew stated without any inflection but an ominous golden gleam in his eyes. "A certain stubborn birdy better accept that before he's reduced to ash."

"Andrew, dammit, that's not-"

Andrew clicked his tongue and turned around, which made Neil scurry to move out of his way and follow while Wymack ranted about guest rights and listening to him for once, dammit. Neil hesitated for a moment before threading his fingers into Andrew's warm left hand and smiled when they were squeezed back.

"Those tapestries were rather ugly, he should thank you for burning them," he murmured after they walked a little in silence.

"Too orange," Andrew agreed.

Neil hummed and bumped their shoulders together, then sighed when he caught sight of Aaron and Katelyn headed their way; it was going to be one of those days, wasn't it?

"Andrew, I was looking for-"

"No," Andrew told his brother as he tugged Neil towards the hall to the left of them; it appeared that they were no longer off to spend some time with Betsy.

"But we need to-"

" _No_ ," Andrew repeated, the gold back in his eyes. "Go away."

"You can't keep ignoring us!"

Oh yes, he could, and the sooner Aaron accepted that fact (along with how 'displeased' Andrew was over Katelyn's presence at the Foxhole Court), the better things would be for everyone. Well, at least Neil.

They took a roundabout way back to their rooms, and Neil was grateful that they didn't run into anyone else. Once there, he collapsed onto their bed after pulling off his boots and groaned. "Are you trying to alienate the entire court? I'm just curious if there's an endgame here or what." He got a hand shoved into his face for his troubles.

"Amusing," Andrew drawled while Neil smiled, then tugged Neil a little closer against him. Hmm, Neil would say that the dragon was feeling a little lonely just then, that or was still being all over-protective after the spat with Jean. Things hadn't quite gone back to 'normal' after the whole 'spiked wine' incident, even though Neil had finally recovered from the after-effects a few days ago.

Well, he was mostly fine. He was a little tired after the stress of Andrew’s fight with Jean and Wymack being mad at his lover once again, and hoped that they weren’t being sent on another mission considering what had happened the last time. Andrew must have picked up on his unease since he rubbed his hands up and down Neil’s back, which made Neil murmur in delight as he shifted forward a little more, and after a few minutes of the wonderful massage he tilted his chin up in a plain invitation.

Andrew was quick to accept, and they spent a pleasurable hour or so making out on the bed, Andrew’s hands slipping beneath Neil’s tunic to stroke along his back while Neil thoroughly mussed his husband’s blond hair and dug his fingers into the firm muscles he adored. He smiled whenever Andrew shivered and struggled to stifle a gasp or moan at the teasing kisses and licks Neil lavished on his neck, only to moan and shudder himself when the ‘tables’ were turned.

There was the solid weight of Andrew’s body on top of him, strong hands tight on his hips as that hot mouth sucked hard on his neck, and before Neil could frown at the sudden too-much pressure of teeth on sensitive skin, Andrew made a low rumble of displeasure and rolled off of him. Feeling bereft of his lover’s presence and warmth, Neil made to reach for him but stopped himself in time. “Drew?” he asked, concerned that something had happened, something to upset Andrew.

He blinked at the sight of gold in his lover’s eyes and sat up, hands tugging down his tunic to keep them from reaching for Andrew, for trying to soothe when he wasn’t sure what was wrong. “Is… what is it?”

Andrew huffed in anger as he jerked his right hand through his mussed hair, which despite everything made Neil smile; some of the tension left Andrew’s stocky body and made him reach out to flick at a curl which had fallen onto Neil’s nose (he needed a haircut soon). “It’s… dammit, _someone_ needs to learn some boundaries.”

“Hmm?” Neil frowned as he attempted to figure that out then blushed when he noticed how Andrew was staring at his neck – his decidedly bruised neck, from the feel of it, and remembered what they’d been doing right before Andrew had pulled away. “Oh? It’s… _that_?” There’d been the time with the bite back in Blackwell, he recalled.

“Yes,” Andrew agreed, clearly aggrieved by the whole thing.

“Huh.” Neil chewed on his bottom lip while he thought about it, until Andrew seemed to feel comfortable enough to settle next to him on the bed and made him smile. “I don’t mind it that much, really. It’s just weird hickeys and _you’re_ the one leaving them.”

“You’re an idiot,” Andrew sighed as he draped an arm over Neil’s shoulders. “I’m leaving them because the overbearing, possessive dragon inside of me is treating you as another dragon – or trying to. I’m not humoring him.” There was a sense of finality to his words, a too-blankness to his expression which meant that he was serious.

Neil shrugged to show that he didn’t mind one way or another; he knew in the end that Andrew was in control even if the dragon might have some sort of influence over his husband’s actions, that he was still fundamentally _Andrew_ and wouldn’t let things get out of hand.  It was in part what had made Neil fall for him while he was in the dragon’s body, after all. “I trust you both.”

“Idiot,” Andrew said, but he gave Neil a gentle kiss on his temple before pushing him off their bed. “I want dinner, move.”

“And I want to be back on our mountain, alone, but that doesn’t seem to be happening,” Neil sighed as he picked himself up off the floor. “Why should _you_ be happy?”

He was given a bland look and dragged out of their room for his troubles.

So when Nicky, Erik, Aaron and Katelyn were seated in the dining room with clear intent to talk to Andrew, Neil felt a bit of smug amusement at the way his lover paused and stared at his family gathered in quiet determination (well, as quiet as Nicky ever was), then spun around as Nicky called out their names. “I thought you were hungry,” Neil said as he was tugged back into the hallway.

“Renee said something about a small street festival, we’ll grab something there.”

Neil smiled at that, excited since he hadn’t attended one in a couple of years – at least until Andrew tugged him closer. “No picking pockets,” he was told.

“I wasn’t going to!” Neil insisted with a frown which faded when Andrew regarded him with an even look for few seconds. “Uhm… well… I wasn’t going to steal anything important? Maybe just a few coins?” He wanted to make sure he hadn’t gotten too rusty or anything – Matt was too easy of a target and Nicky didn’t count.

“No.” Andrew sighed as he latched on to Neil’s right wrist. “You’re a walking curse, I swear.”

“That’s a bit redundant, you know,” Neil was kind enough to point out.

“And you should have been drowned at birth.”

“Actually, demon spawn are usually left exposed in case any of our, uhm, ‘family’ want to come claim us and take us back.” Neil gave Andrew a wan smile which strengthened as their fingers entwined. “Imagine the havoc I’d be causing down _there_ if that had happened.”

Andrew gave a mock shiver of horror. “Do the impossible and shut up, will you?”

“Make me.” Neil hummed in delight as he was pulled in for a quick kiss and decided to give his poor husband a break, so he remained quiet as they fled the castle and made their way out to the small town near the Foxhole Court.

They ran into Renee and Dan along the way, both dressed in casual outfits instead of their knight’s tunics and who were pleased to see them; Matt and Allison were off on a job for Wymack, so both of the women were a bit lonely at the moment. Neil knew that Matt and Dan were a couple, but he was still trying to figure out what was going on between Renee and Allison – he was certain that Andrew knew the answer, but he was attempting to get better at those ‘things’ (relationship things) on his own.

He could figure out the best way to ransack a castle or the fastest escape route from a building, knew over a dozen forbidden spells and even more poisons, but he still had difficulties on the more ‘human’ things. He didn’t think it was because of his demon blood, just whatever it was that made him only interested in Andrew as well as the fact that he’d been raised to see people as targets in one way or another, as disposable items and not friends.

His childhood was more than a little fucked-up.

Andrew must have picked up on his thoughts since he once more tugged Neil close and admonished him to stay out of trouble. That made Dan laugh and Renee smile.

“It’s not much of a fair, but there’s always some good food to be found and interesting trinkets,” the paladin told Neil as she walked beside him. “They have them all the time during spring and summer, it’s an excuse to see people and have a little fun.”

“Maybe you’ll find something to wear for that wedding the two of you should be planning,” Dan told them with a reproachful look. “That’s what Nicky’s after you about, right?”

Neil groaned while Andrew’s expression grew blank; they needed to make things ‘formal’ within the next few months and had every intention of doing just that, but… it seemed the more everyone pushed him and Andrew to stand in front of some priest and have a ‘proper’ wedding, the more they resisted despite the fact that they had to do it to keep Riko at bay. Part of it was that everyone was involving themselves in something that Neil and Andrew preferred to be a private affair, much like their lives. “He has this idea of a triple wedding,” Neil told the knight as he stroked the leather and golden scaled band on his left forearm. “That’s not going to happen.”

“Damn right,” Andrew muttered.

“Maybe you should elope then?” Renee offered, which earned her a displeased look from Dan, who was one of those ‘meddlers’. “All that matters is that a priest sanctifies your handfasted vows, not that you do so in front of a large group of witnesses or have a fancy party.”

“They need a few witnesses, enough to stand up to that Evermore prick,” Dan argued as she tapped the fingers of her right hand against the hilt of the knife in the mostly empty sword belt wrapped around her bright blue tunic.

“Just a couple,” Renee agreed in that serene manner of hers. “But not many.”

Neil exchanged a look with Andrew, who shrugged as if to show that he didn’t care one way or another, but Neil caught the speculative gleam in his lover’s hazel eyes and suspected that they might be disappearing one day in the near future with Betsy and possibly Renee to find themselves a priest or priestess who wouldn’t mind marrying someone cursed to turn into a dragon to the son of the Butcher.

Something warm filled Neil at that thought.

He allowed Andrew to drag him to every table which sold sweets and baked goods, and only laughed at his lover’s antics – even when Andrew complained about him being ‘lazy’ and not baking anymore. They did buy a few pork buns so they had something to eat, but for the most part it was Andrew indulging in his need for sugar.

Dan watched on with growing fascination while Renee beamed with happiness, and Neil just sighed as he was burdened with more and more sweets to carry back to the castle. “How can you stand that much sugar?” he asked, not for the first time.

“I need something to offset the sour taste you’re always leaving in my mouth,” Andrew replied in a deadpan manner, which made Neil roll his eyes.

“Oh yes, you suffer so.” Neil tried one of the candies his lover had just bought and gagged at its cloying taste while the bastard snatched the bag away in a possessive manner.

“You two are so cute,” Renee said as she helped Neil with some of the purchases.

“Not the words I’d have used, but sure, we’ll go with that.” Still, Dan smiled at Neil and laughed as he scraped at his tongue with his teeth to get rid of the awful taste, then bought him a tart drink.

Since it was a rather small ‘festival’, it didn’t take them long to run out of booths – it was a mix of people from the town and vendors who stopped for the day on their way to bigger venues. While it had been mostly food that evening, there had been a few booths selling flowers or hand-woven fabrics and clothes, and one some nice boots. Neil would have to bring along more money next time and see about a new pair of shoes.

Soon enough they were headed back to the castle; Dan was arguing with Renee about what was better in steamed buns (spiced chicken versus pickled vegetables) when Andrew took a bite out of a fruit hand pie he’d bought from one of the out of town vendors. All Neil knew was that one moment everything was good, was fun and laughter and peaceful (he should have known better), and then there was a wild flare of Andrew’s magic and a wave of heat pouring from his shuddering body. Neil cried out his lover’s name and took a step closer before he was shoved away hard enough to make him stumble, shoved toward Renee, and the paladin pulled him to the side of the road with her as there was a shimmer of gold and red while Andrew shifted into his dragon form as several baked goods fell onto the ground.

Except for one moment there was the large, familiar golden form… and the next a much smaller one about the size of a cat. Smoke and sparks filled the air around it as it writhed on the ground, its delicate wings flapping in distress.

“What in the name of Meara is going on?” Dan said as she rushed toward the dragon, only to yelp and stumble back as flames shot toward her and were barely deflected by her own magic.

“A spell or curse of some sort,” Renee remarked in a voice tight with worry as she let go of Neil and they both took a cautious step forward. “But did it make him smaller or something else?”

“Drew?” Neil called out as he approached his lover, the man he was handfasted to and swore to remain with for the rest of their lives. The small form stilled at the sound of his panicked voice so he tried again. “Andrew? Are you… what happened?” He crouched down and held out his hand to the now tiny dragon, body tense with fear and anger that something had harmed _Andrew_.

/ _???_ / It wasn’t the same as Andrew ‘speaking’ to him while in dragon-form, but something simpler, was more of the hint of emotion he usually picked up from his lover in that form – confusion, anger, concern with a bit of relief and possessiveness as Andrew moved in a flowing motion to ‘run’ up Neil’s outstretched arm and settle on his shoulders. As his tail wrapped around Neil’s neck, an image of first their mountain home and then the Foxhole Court flashed through Neil’s mind.

“Ah, he wants to go home,” Neil said as he stood up slowly, mindful not to jostle Andrew. Some of the fear abated now that Andrew had responded, but all he wanted was to get back to the castle as well, to be somewhere safe and figure out what had happened.

“He told you that?” Renee asked as she approached, only to stop when Andrew sent out a thin flame in an obvious signal not to come too close.

“Not in words, like he usually does.” Neil risked stroking Andrew’s neck and managed a faint smile when he ‘felt’ his lover’s pleasure at the touch; at least that hadn’t changed, Andrew (more the dragon) taking comfort in touch while in that form. “It’s like he’s reduced to doing something less complex now.”

Renee and Dan shared a look for a moment before Dan spoke. “All right, I’m going with you back to the Foxhole while Renee returns to the festival to see if she can figure out which vendor sold Andrew that spelled item.”

They had probably fled as soon as the four of them had left, but Renee would uncover whatever information she could out of the rest of the people, Neil was certain. Not that there was much doubt that the person was in the employ of the Moriyamas; after Riko’s plan to make Neil appear unfaithful had failed, he’d obviously decided to strike at Andrew.

“Let’s go,” Neil said; the sooner they reached the Foxhole Court, the sooner Betsy could start working on a counter-spell. Andrew sent a ‘pulse’ of agreement, which made Neil hunch his shoulders in a protective manner around his now diminutive spouse.

Dan was on guard the entire way back to the Foxhole Court as if she expected some of Riko’s knights to jump out at them at any moment, which would have been amusing under any other circumstances. Neil actually wouldn’t have minded being attacked for once, as he felt his aether magic thrum through his veins in response to the concern he felt over Andrew and the thought that Riko had dared to target someone he cared about instead of him.

Of course they reached the large building without incident, and people took to staring at them once they caught sight of Andrew wrapped around Neil’s neck; he assumed that Andrew was remaining in dragon form because it was ‘safe’ – if he was reduced in size or even worse, de-aged somehow, a small dragon was much more powerful than a young child. From what Neil knew of his lover’s childhood… yes, a small dragon was much preferred over the small, defenseless child that Andrew had been all those years ago.

They barely were inside when Aaron (and Katelyn) tracked them down, as if he’d been waiting for his brother to return. “An- wait, where is he?” he demanded of Neil before his eyes (similar to Andrew’s but lacking _something_ ) went wide. “What the- is that _Andrew_?”

Beside him with her right arm linked through his left, Katelyn, an air mage, leaned forward but was mindful of Neil’s (and Andrew’s) space. “Oh, it is Andrew, isn’t it? He’s identical even if he’s smaller.” She gave Neil a sympathetic look. “Another curse?”

Neil didn’t know why Andrew had a problem with the young woman, other than the fact that Aaron loved her; Katelyn was kind and intelligent and – while he didn’t have much use or experience with _nice_ people like her – doing her best to make Aaron happy, from what he could see. To adapt her life with Aaron’s. Neil didn’t see anything that should cause Andrew any alarm… but he was an only child and hadn’t sacrificed or suffered what Andrew had for Aaron, so he did his best to keep quiet and let the two siblings work through their issues.

At least, he _tried._

Aaron’s face grew flushed and he made a jerky motion toward Neil that was arrested when smoke was blown in his direction. “Dammit, what did you do _now_?” he accused Neil, anger evident in his voice. “How did you fuck up my brother’s life this time?”

“Aaron, I don’t-“

He ignored Katelyn to glare at Neil and slash his right fist through the air. “It’s not bad enough that we have a demon and crazy prince after us, now he’s been tu-“ His eyes went wide as a small plume of flames stopped just short of his face the same time that anger and a sense of protectiveness flooded Neil’s mind. “Ah!”

Katelyn helped to pull him out of the way, not that Neil thought that Andrew would do more than singe his brother. “That was uncalled for,” she chided her fiancé.  “Would you stand by and do nothing if some asshole was trying to hurt me?”

“But-“

“What the hell is going on here?”

Neil flinched as Wymack’s deep voice filled the hallway; it seemed that Dan must have caught up with the man and informed him of the latest bit of trouble since he, Abby, Betsy, Kevin, Nicky and Erik were headed toward Neil and Andrew.

Andrew made a rumbling sound and shot off a few sparks to prevent anyone (such as Kevin and Nicky) from coming too close while Wymack appeared to be suffering from a headache. “Look, kid, I’m just saying… the weirdest shit’s been happening ever since you arrived,” Wymack complained to Neil as he rubbed at his forehead, which earned him a smack in the ribs from a frowning Abby. “But it’s true!” he yelped. “Aphrodisiac spells for demons, coercion rings, squatting Raven knights and now this?”

“You make it sound as if he’s not a welcome member of our court,” Abby scolded with a fierce look, “which he is, him and Andrew.”

“Yeah, Andrew, who’s currently the size of a house cat.” Wymack all of a sudden grinned. “That might be a good thing, actually.” He yelped again when a thin stream of flame was shot his way. “Dammit, you midget bastard!”

“Oh heavens he’s utterly adorable!” Nicky all but shrieked (and got a face full of smoke as a result). “So – cough – cute!”

“He’s _tiny_ ,” Aaron gritted out. “He’s been cursed _again_ and I’m not traveling the damn country for another how many years to break it!” At Katelyn’s stern look Aaron flushed anew and ducked his head. “I mean… I don’t _want_ to have to do it again.”

Meanwhile, Kevin kept shuffling around an anxious Neil and annoyed Andrew in an attempt to analyze the spell (or so Neil hoped), despite the smoke and sparks sent his way. “Stand still,” he told Neil as he circled about, “this is fascinating and I want a better look at it. Can I have some scales?”

“No!” Neil, Abby and Betsy said (well, Neil shouted and followed up with a bit of aether) at the same time, which made Kevin scowl and back off a little.

“I’m… uhm… I’m….” Neil took a nervous step backward while Andrew flapped his wings and flinched when Betsy approached with her hands held up in a placating manner.

“Go get some rest,” the water mage told him in a kind voice while ‘shooing’ a still hovering Kevin away. “This must be very confusing for the both of you and I think I’ve an idea or two I want to start researching now that I’ve seen Andrew. That and Renee should have some information for me soon, so I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

Neil didn’t always get along with Betsy, not when she made him uneasy with the sharp intelligence in her brown eyes and how she seemed to see through him, seemed to see _into_ him and all the dark secrets he held, but he knew Andrew trusted her and that she’d helped his husband ever since they’d arrived at the Foxhole Court. “Okay.”

Betsy ordered Kevin to come to her lab and help with the research while Abby tugged Nicky out of the way, which meant Neil (and Andrew) could flee at last. He knew he’d have to deal with Aaron, Nicky and Kevin the next day, but at least it wasn’t right _then_.

He warded the door of their room once they were inside to discourage anyone from bothering them, then watched as Andrew flew over to the bed; it was disconcerting to see him in such a small form, to see him curl up on Neil’s pillow when he should be filling the entire room.

Yet he was alive and, small size aside, appeared whole and unharmed. All that mattered to Neil was that he was mostly all right and that they had a chance to undo this latest bit of misfortune, to prove to Riko that the bastard would never come between them.

All that mattered to Neil was that he still had Andrew by his side, no matter what form or size.

So he smiled as he sat down on the bed and took off his boots. “You okay?” Relatively speaking.

There was a pulse of assurance, so Neil went to wash off and changed into an old shirt of Andrew’s to wear to bed and grabbed the book that his lover had been reading the night before, which prompted a wave of eagerness and Andrew to curl up on his shoulders once he settled in their bed. It wasn’t the same as Neil being tucked beneath his lover’s wing while he read aloud, but it was comforting in its own way, feeling the heat soak into his neck and shoulders, hearing the faint rumble of Andrew’s delight and being given the occasional nuzzle to his cheek while he got through about two chapters that night before they went to sleep.

It wasn’t the same as having Andrew behind him or holding him through the night, but at least he was curled against the small of Neil’s back so it was something.

They went straight to Betsy’s lab in the morning, where Kevin and Renee were already working with the water mage; Renee gave Neil a kind smile and Kevin attempted to poke at Andrew when he landed on the one worktable near Betsy, only to get a singed finger for his troubles. “Ow! I’m trying to check the spell, you asshole!”

“You don’t need to touch him to do that,” Betsy chided as she nudged Kevin aside. “Something to eat?” she asked Andrew, which prompted an excited chirp from him as she brought out a tray of breakfast pastries.

Neil sighed and accepted a cup of tea from Renee along with an apple while his husband quickly decimated the food despite being reduced in size. “Did you find anything?”

“The seller left in a hurry, so quickly that she abandoned her goods behind in her haste to get away. Dan’s trying to track her down, but I brought everything back and we found a few drops of what appears to be a youth spell,” Renee explained. “Which is a very rare and powerful spell.”

Yes, it must have cost Riko a lot of money for such a thing, but there probably wasn’t many others out there that could affect Andrew when he was ‘part’ dragon. “Do you think you can break it?”

She hesitated for a moment while she glanced over at Betsy, who was still scolding Kevin. “We need to be careful since there’s not much of the original spell left for us to study, but yes, we do.” She gave him an encouraging smile. “Just give us a little time, okay?”

That’s just it, they didn’t _have_ that much time, which was what Riko was probably counting on – the youth spell was probably two-fold in that it reduced Andrew to a ‘weaker’ form which was easier to kill and how could Neil officially marry someone like that? At the very least, all Riko had to do was wait a few more months until the handfasted year was up and ‘reclaim’ Neil (as if it was that simple) if they didn’t break this latest curse.

Renee must have guessed Neil’s thoughts because she patted him on the shoulder. “It won’t be long, I swear that to you.” She held his gaze until he managed a faint smile and nodded. “You’ll see.”

“Okay. I just-“ The sound of Kevin yelling made him glance aside and find the knight flailing about as Andrew, little more than a golden blur, flew around him while spouting little bursts of flames.

Off to the side, Betsy appeared to be stifling a laugh. “Oh dear, maybe he shouldn’t have had all that sugar?”

Neil sighed as he went to save his friend. “Andrew? You can’t set him on fire today, we need his help.”

“Hey! What do you mean, _today_?” Kevin squawked as Andrew zipped around a couple more times before draping himself over Neil’s shoulders.

Neil gave him a blasé look as he rubbed beneath Andrew’s chin. “I would think that’s rather evident. Now what about this spell, hmm?”

There may have been some muttering about demon blood before Kevin’s need to dissect everything magic-related won out, and soon they were going over all known curses related to youth and age. The good thing was, there weren’t too many of them since they were so difficult to cast, but they would need to figure out which one had been used on Andrew based on the few ingredients the mage had left behind in her stall at the festival.

“Uhm… this looks like snow lotus,” Kevin said as he held up a piece of leaf. “And this is phoenix ashes.”

Renee nodded and pointed to a bit of shriveled up mushroom. “That should be reishi, too.”

“I’ve a spell that should help identify things since we don’t want to be guessing here,” Betsy offered. “Let me get the ingredients we’ll need for it.” She went over to a long row of shelves while Neil kept flipping through a book on spells to see if he could try to narrow things down; next to him, Andrew was curled up on a blueberry pie as if it was a precious horde of gold and appeared determined to eat the entire thing bite by bite.

Kevin gave Neil’s husband a narrow look. “Are you sure that’s good for him?”

“You going to take it away from him?” Neil asked as he flipped the page.

Kevin glanced down at his singed black tunic and then back at Andrew, who let out a puff of smoke as he extended a clawed foot over the top of the pie’s crust in a possessive manner. “I was just making an observation,” Kevin said in an offended manner.

“If he has been reduced to a child – or the equivalent of that for a dragon since he’s shifted into that form – then he’s expending a lot of energy for magic and flying,” Betsy explained as she returned with an armful of jars filled with herbs and crystals. “Young dragons don’t usually have to use their magic so much because they have at least one parent around to protect them, which isn’t the case here. It’s understandable that Andrew would want the sweets for energy, in addition to his love for them.”

“Or he could just shift back into his human form,” Kevin offered.

Neil and Betsy exchanged a look before the woman shook her head. “Then Andrew would be without his magic as a human child. Would you want that after several years of possessing it?” she asked Kevin, which made the earth mage blanch and clutch his scarred left hand against his chest. “It’s probably another reason why they chose the de-age curse, in hopes that Andrew wouldn’t be able to shift into the dragon form once it took effect.”

Yes, it would be a great way to render Andrew hopeless, which was part of the reason behind that line of curses in the first place – de-age a mage to the point before that they had been able to use their magic. Riko hadn’t taken into account how strong the bond was between Andrew and the dragon, how they’d made the original curse work for them in the end.

The four of them spent the day researching and testing out various herbs while Andrew ate the pie then demanded that Neil give his extended belly plenty of rubs (Neil was torn between being alarmed and bemused at his lover’s behavior, and had a feeling that it would never be spoken of once Andrew returned to ‘normal’).

Nicky and Aaron were lying in wait for them when Neil (with a sleepy Andrew in his arms) left to go eat dinner, so Neil decided to get it over with and tagged along. Andrew curled in his lap like a cat while he had some chicken hand pies, which meant that Nicky couldn’t bother his lover too much.

“That’s just… that’s just so weird,” Nicky said as he craned his head to peek at a still sleepy Andrew. “I’m used to him being all scary, not adorable.”

“I’m sure he can singe off all of your hair and you can reconsider the whole ‘scary’ thing,” Neil said between sips of tea, which prompted a pleased pulse from Andrew inside of his head.

Nicky blanched at that and shuddered. “No, no! I believe you!” Erik gave him a one-armed hug to help settle him while Katelyn smirked into her cup of juice. “It’s just… I’ve never seen him so small,” Nicky admitted. “We,” he motioned at a frowning Aaron, “didn’t find out about Andrew until he was older since Tilda sold him off into indentured work at such a young age.”

Andrew had told Neil about Tilda, the twins’ ‘mother’, and the whole terrible saga of his youth – how he’d been handed over to strangers while so young that Aaron had believed the woman when she’d told him that he’d been an only child and it had been a figment of his imagination, him having a brother. Nicky and Aaron had only found out the truth when Andrew had grown too powerful to suffer through the abuse anymore, was considered too ‘unstable’ to have anyone renew his contract.

Neil felt such a protective surge toward his husband when he thought about all of the abuse Andrew had suffered as a child, all the pain and hardship he’d endured because no one had stood up for him and because in his own way, he’d done it to save Aaron.

Now Andrew had someone to protect _him_ – Neil would do anything for his lover, would give up the little bit of remaining humanity he had left, would face his father alone, would go back to Riko if it came down to it. Because Andrew was worth it.

“Anyway, it’s… it’s strange to see him like that. I sorta wish he’d change back to human so I could see him as a child,” Nicky continued. “But I know you just want him to go back to normal.” He offered Neil a wavering smile. “It would kill me if anything like that happened to Eric.”

“And me if it were you, baby,” Erik murmured before he pressed a kiss against Nicky’s left temple.

“We’re working on it,” Neil said as he stroked his fingers along Andrew’s back, mindful of his folded wings.

“You better,” Aaron muttered, then winced for some reason; Neil noticed that Katelyn’s left hand was below the table and surfaced a few seconds later as she gave him a slow wink. “I mean… yeah, I’m sure you are,” Aaron amended while giving his fiancée a puzzled look.

The rest of the meal was spent talking about the day’s efforts, with Nicky hijacking it for a few minutes at the end for Neil to ‘just think about a triple wedding, okay? It’ll be fun!’

No, it wouldn’t, but Neil managed a slight smile and nodded along without promising anything, more and more certain that eloping was the way to go once Andrew was back to normal.

The next few days were spent mostly in Betsy’s lab as they focused all of their efforts into undoing the curse, and Neil grew used to the feel of Andrew draped over his shoulders or tucked into his arms (when he wasn’t curled up on top of some pie or clutch of pastries). Neil was learning a lot more about magic during those days, was increasing his knowledge of various herbs and counter-curses, but he’d much rather have Andrew back and be called an ‘idiot’ as they spent the day curled up in bed together.

When they weren’t in Betsy’s lab, he’d read to Andrew, which his lover still enjoyed despite being younger (Neil found some books with ‘simpler’ plots, though even as a child Andrew still had a sharp intellect). He found the thing he missed the most (other than Andrew being human and holding him) was Andrew’s biting voice inside of his head, the laconic wit and sharp insight and sometimes rough but well-intended reassurances.

Andrew was Neil’s touchstone in so many ways, was his _home_.  And something (someone) had tried to tear down his _home_.

“I’m going to fix this,” he assured Andrew one night as they were in their bed, Andrew curled up on his shoulders as he read a chapter or two before they went to sleep. “I don’t care what it costs, I’m going to fix it.” Dan hadn’t been able to find the woman selling those damn fruit pies so if worse came to worst… Neil would storm the Raven’s Nest and put all that awful knowledge his mother and father had taught him to use and force Riko to give him the counter-spell, _dammit_.

Andrew craned his long neck to look up at Neil, his emotions a tangled mess for a moment and then there was a strong feel of exasperation as he blew a large plume of smoke in Neil’s face before he reached out a clawed paw to tap at the one page of the book in a clear signal of ‘keep reading, idiot’.

The gods did indeed hate Neil.

He was so focused on Andrew, on everything related to his lover (those trickle of emotions over that ephemeral link, to breaking the damn curse, to worrying that something else would happen to Andrew) that he barely paid attention to anything else. Jean had been quiet ever since the festival, cautious that he’d be blamed somehow, that he’d known something but hadn’t spoken up (Neil didn’t blame him at all – he knew what it had been like back at the Raven’s Nest and also knew just how little Riko thought of his wayward property), yet he’d been hovering around Neil the last day or so, at least as much as Andrew allowed.

“So do you think we can use angelica or rue in the counter-spell?” Neil asked Andrew; he may be a ‘child’ but he still was intelligent as hell and had been paying some attention for the last several days. There was the ‘feel’ of concentration which let him know that Andrew was considering the question, right before Jean barreled into them.

“What-“

“ _Down_ ,” Jean hissed as he threw up a ward and the tingle of earth magic filled the air; Neil caught the sight of a tall young man he thought he’d seen before, a tall young man who should be wearing black and red.

“He’s-“

“Ingo, Evermore,” Jean grunted as he struggled against the knight’s powerful earth magic. “Riko must have sent him to drag you back.” He left unsaid the part where Jean and Andrew would be killed as well, because Neil wouldn’t leave Andrew and Jean had to be considered a traitor at that point.

All that magic flying about would have the others at the Foxhole Court honing in on them soon, but Ingo was powerful and they didn’t have much time; Jean cursed beneath his breath as his impromptu wards began to buckle, which was to be expected given the hastiness of their casting.

Neil prepared a spell for when those wards did fall (and hoped that he didn’t take down too much of the castle) when there was a blast of magic from almost behind them – Ingo hadn’t come alone, it seemed. He swore as his skin tingled unpleasantly and bones ached, a clear sign that someone had just used a magical item enchanted by a paladin, had used something specifically targeted for demons.

In other words, Neil was in trouble.

There was another blast of the anti-demon magic which made Neil groan right around the same time that Jean cursed again and fell to his knees, and Neil would pray that Kevin or Renee showed up right about then if he thought it would do them any good. Instead, Andrew flew from his shoulders as flames poured forth from his tiny mouth, rage and possession a pounding tattoo inside of Neil’s aching head as Jean’s wards crumbled, as there was a wild flare of various magicks (and a harsh pull on Neil’s own from inside of his chest), as the hallway became almost an inferno and creaked and groaned in an ominous way and-

-and a full-sized dragon, a full-sized _Andrew_ suddenly roared to life as plaster fell onto Neil and his husband’s tail shoved him (and Jean) into a cracked wall while Evermore knights screamed in surprise and fear, only for there to be a gold shimmer a moment later and a human _Andrew_ to stand there with a slight glower on his face and sparks all around in the dust-filled air while Neil contemplated passing out for a moment.

“Oh no, you’re not leaving me to deal with _this_!” Jean insisted as he gave Neil a sharp pinch to his right arm while he kept him on his feet, right around the time that Ingo shrieked and Kevin, Dan and Renee finally appeared. “Stop him before he brings the roof down on our heads!”

“That’s a bad thing?” Neil scowled when he was pinched again. “Stop it before I blow off your hand.”

“Stop _him,_ ” Jean insisted, while Kevin and Dan took to yelling about the Evermore knights and Andrew.

Neil sighed and took a stumbling step forward, and nodded in gratitude when Renee caught his left arm and helped him toward Andrew, who appeared to be using a flame whip against the remaining conscious Evermore knight (who also looked familiar – Neil thought they might have found the missing pastry vendor). “Uhm… welcome back and can you stop?”

Andrew paused in tormenting the woman to look over at him and clicked his tongue. “I didn’t go anywhere.” While he spoke (and was distracted), Dan rushed forward to deal with the enemy knight.

“But you’re back to normal.” Neil smiled when his lover reached for him and pulled him to his side, strong arms wrapped around Neil’s waist. “I missed you. I mean, it wasn’t bad, you being so small, but I like you when you’re _you_.” When Andrew could hold him and kiss him, among other things.

That earned him a heated look for a couple of seconds and a faint huff. “Idiot.”

“Wait, _how_ are you back to normal?” Kevin asked from where he was standing beside Jean and checking on his friend. “We’re still trying to figure out the spell!”

“Later,” Dan snapped as she stalked over to Ingo’s prone form to make sure he was still unconscious (Neil remembered seeing him a few times at the Raven’s Nest before he’d managed to escape). “I want to know how these two-“

“For fuck’s sake, what happened now?” Wymack demanded to know as he and Betsy finally caught up with the rest of them, a couple of general guards hovering in the background. “Minyard – Andrew? What did you do?” Somehow he didn’t seem surprised that Andrew had broken the curse. “Can I not let you out of my sight for a damn minute without you trying to burn this place down?”

“I didn’t start it this time,” was all Andrew said as he turned Neil around and began walking away; he gave Betsy a two-fingered salute as they went past and ignored Kevin’s shout about explaining what the hell happened to the curse.

They came across an out of breath Aaron and Nicky when they were closer to their bedroom, Aaron’s eyes going wide when he caught sight of Andrew and Nicky almost breaking into tears. “The curse… the new one? It’s gone?” Aaron asked as his shoulders slumped in relief.

Andrew gave a slight nod which made Nicky grin in joy and even Aaron smile.

“Might want to… uhm, not go that way,” Neil murmured as he slumped a little more against Andrew, who’d taken a good bit of magic from him when breaking the curse. “Bit of a mess,” he said while gesturing behind them.

“Why am I not surprised?” Still Nicky appeared happy and made an abortive motion to hug them before he came to his senses. “You’re having dinner with us later, okay?” When Andrew’s thick brows drew together, he shook his head. “We won’t mention the ‘w’ word tonight, but it’s been too long since we sat together as a family. I’ll be good.”

“Erik made him promise,” Aaron said, his expression guarded but intent as he waited for his brother’s response.

Andrew appeared ready to say something to his brother, probably about Katelyn, but Neil slumped a little more which made Andrew grunt and nod in agreement. “Watch yourselves,” he told his family, just in case there were any other Moriyama knights wandering about, and then they continued on their way.

“So how did you break the curse?”  Neil asked once they were lying on their bed together, Neil’s hands pressed against Andrew’s chest in part to reassure himself that his husband was real and next to him.

Andrew gave a slight shrug, his right arm tucked beneath his head and left one warm and heavy over Neil’s hip with his fingers splayed in the small of Neil’s back. “Something just… _clicked_ when those assholes were attacking. It’s a bit fuzzy, the last few days, but the dragon and I were paying attention to things and I guess we must have figured out enough how to break it when it mattered.”

Neil knew his lover was powerful and highly intelligent, and the dragon was a supernatural being to be respected; when the two of them worked together, they could do incredible things. “I’m glad you did, I missed this.” He leaned forward to give a quick nuzzle to Andrew’s stubble-covered jaw. “Though maybe it’ll teach you not to be such a glutton.”

He laughed as he pulled onto Andrew and given a light smack to his ass then kissed quiet with an intensity that let him know his lover had missed ‘this’ as well, but the embrace ended after a few minutes. “Hmm, Bee needs to hurry with that poison charm,” Andrew said as Neil settled more against his side than on top of him, sleepy from the magic-drain and aware that Andrew probably didn’t want more than the simple contact after breaking free from another curse just then.

“Yeah.” Neil sighed as he thought about the latest attack against them. “Riko’s not giving up.”

“Because he has no real power without you,” Andrew pointed out. “He’s a useless second son without anything to show for himself.”

“He has my father under his command.” That wasn’t quite ‘nothing’, Neil thought as he chewed on his bottom lip.

“Kengo and Tetsuya has the prick on a leash, not so much Riko,” Andrew clarified. “And your father barely survived the last time he took us on.” He stroked his fingers through Neil’s hair in an effort to calm him. “They’re swiping at us like this because they know they can’t face us head on.”

Neil hoped that was true. “I don’t want you targeted again, or worse, any of the others.” He couldn’t bear it if Nicky or Aaron were hurt, if any of the Foxes were harmed because they’d taken him and Andrew in.

He couldn’t lose Andrew.

The feel of Andrew’s fingers in his hair almost put him to sleep before his lover spoke again. “Then we figure out a priest who’ll marry us, get those charms from Bee and sneak out some night to make it official. That takes away Riko’s argument that you’re still his fiancé once and for all, and if he keeps pushing then no one will complain when we kill him.”

Neil rested his chin on Andrew’s chest and smiled. “That was _so_ romantic, how can I say ‘no’?” He laughed when he got a hand shoved in his face.

“Considering your other fiancé was a sadistic asshole? Shut up and go to sleep,” Andrew ordered, to which Neil hummed in happiness and did what he was told for once.

He continued to smile as he fell asleep to the feel of Andrew’s fingers in his hair, Andrew’s magic and warmth all around him.

*******

 

**Author's Note:**

> *******  
> Aww, I wonder what's going to happen in the next part or two....
> 
> I also figure maybe some day I could do an edit where it's Neil getting the youth curse, but this time, it was Andrew.
> 
> OK, working on RPch25 now. Hope to have it for next week, but work is demanding this week.
> 
> As always, thanks for the comments and kudos!  
> *******


End file.
